


Bouquet of Glass

by MikazukiMunechika305



Category: Keyakizaka46 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-25 12:38:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17725370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MikazukiMunechika305/pseuds/MikazukiMunechika305
Summary: The princess's life—tied tightly to a bouquet of glass flowers by a curse.Her savior—a simple thief who broke into the castle and ended up stealing nothing but the princess's heart.





	1. Prologue

Everyone in the Northern Castle was in high spirits. Even the servants were chattering excitedly as they worked hard to make the castle look pretty, for the Queen was in her last month of pregnancy, and as it seemed, the contractions had begun an hour ago. Ergo, everyone was preparing to celebrate the birth of the child, the heir to the Northern Royal Family.

However, at the same time in the Southern Kingdom, a mage was preparing a magic potion. She was cackling madly as she added ingredients to her black iron pot and stirred the potion. “The child shall be cursed!” she laughed to herself, referring to the child that was to be born in the Northern Kingdom.

The Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom had been enemies for decades already, and their current rulers had no intentions of changing that. This was the reason why the Southern King had ordered the mage to curse the child of the Northern King, and the mage, an old woman who had hated the Northern Kingdom for many years, had happily accepted the order.

And today was the day on which the child was going to be born. The mage had bought a hundred flowers because she needed them for her spell. Once the potion was finished, the mage threw all of the hundred flowers into the pot, murmuring an incantation. The flowers absorbed the potion, gleaming slightly in the dim light of the mage’s hut. The mage gathered the flowers and tied them together to an immense bouquet. Then, she scribbled a note which she tied to the stems of the flowers and sent a messenger to the Northern Kingdom.

In the meantime, in the Northern Kingdom, the baby was born—coincidentally (or not so coincidentally? Nobody but the mage would ever know) at exactly the same time as the mage had muttered her incantation. The baby was a girl, and her parents named her Risa. Her birth was celebrated in the entire kingdom with a festival that the King announced to last for two days, and on the second day, a messenger arrived at the Northern Castle. He offered the King and the Queen the impressive bouquet, telling them that it was from an admirer of the Royal Family.

The King thankfully accepted the bouquet and unfolded the note that was tied to the stems of the flowers.

_ The Northern Princess’s life is cursed. It is tied to the flowers of this bouquet. They can bloom for a hundred years, each flower for one year, and if everything goes well for the Princess, she shall live just as long. However, if one flower wilts after one year, it will turn to glass, and that glass will shatter as soon as someone touches it even once. If that happens, the Princess shall feel her heart ache, and her lifespan will be shortened by one year. In return, if the Princess gets injured, one flower shall wilt with the same rules applying. _

Once he read that, the King ordered the servants to carefully take the bouquet to a small, secluded room in the castle. He sent two guards to watch over the entrance to that room to make sure that nobody could touch the flowers and ergo hurt his dear daughter.

Those happenings were the reason why the Northern Princess, Watanabe Risa, grew up in the castle without even being allowed to sleep by herself. Her parents feared she might fall out of her bed and hurt herself, so they had a maid sleep in the same room as her. The Princess only got to see the same people every day, she wasn't allowed to leave the castle or to play with other children her age, and what was the worst—she was never told what was ‘wrong’ with her.

That was, until she was ten years old. Risa was wearing a long dress, and she was running down the stairs in the castle because she had heard from one of the servants that traders from the village were going to come to the castle. And then, she tripped on the long, embroidered skirt of her dress and fell down the stairs.

Risa's pained scream echoed through the hallways of the castle as she tried to figure out whether to clutch her chest or her left arm. The pain from both her arm (a doctor later diagnosed it to be broken) and her heart was too much for her to comprehend, so even though she normally might not have behaved this childishly, she just sat on the floor crying loudly until a maid led her back to her room.

That was the day Risa learned about her curse. Her parents allowed her to see the bouquet for the first time, and they were shocked to discover that one of the flowers had turned to glass and shattered already. “I-it’s okay!” Risa tried to cheer them up, although her voice was a bit shaky because she didn’t exactly know how to handle all this new information. “There’s… still a bunch of flowers left, right?” She pointed at the number of flowers that were still in full bloom—and she was right; altogether, the number of blooming flowers and that of flowers that had turned to glass but not shattered yet came up to ninety-nine.

But from then on, Risa stopped playing as recklessly as before. She spent more time reading books, and even though she still occasionally asked her parents to let her leave the castle, she didn’t complain when her request got denied. She stayed in the castle, always only able to see the outside world from the windows, and eventually, she got bored. Every day was the same, and Risa couldn’t even look forward to her own birthday anymore because she knew it would change nothing.

Those days of nothing happened continued for the next eight years—until one certain day, a few days after Risa’s eighteenth birthday.


	2. Chapter 1

It was night, and everyone in the castle was fast asleep. Only Risa was awake, rolling from one side of her bed to the other and back. She was feeling too hot to sleep, and she was just considering heading to the kitchen for a drink when she suddenly heard voices in the castle yard. Changing her plan, Risa went for the window instead and pulled back the curtain.

The guards had lit torches, gathering around something—no, someone—in the middle of the yard. In the hallway that led past her room, Risa could hear hurried steps and someone calling for the King and the Queen. She hurried to leave her room and follow her parents even though she hadn’t been asked to do that; but there was no way she was missing the most exciting thing that had happened in the castle in eighteen years.

The person the guards had discovered seemed to be a female burglar; she didn’t look much older than Risa herself, but her even just her eyes seemed much livelier than Risa’s own. Risa envied her a bit, even though she definitely didn’t want to be in the girl’s position (which meant struggling to defend herself against the guards who were forcing her down to her knees) right now.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” the King asked coldly.

The girl simply spat at him. “Let me go! I didn’t even get to steal anything, so it shouldn’t be a problem!”

“I think I know her,” one of the guards cut in. “I believe there’s rumors going around in the village about her these days. She’s probably that one thief who couldn’t be captured until now… she calls herself Mona, if I’m right.”

The girl tried to stay calm, but the surprise was obvious on her face for a split second. “N-no, you’re wrong!” she yelled as the guards dragged her away towards the prison cells, but of course nobody was willing to listen to her. Only Risa retreated to her room quietly, silently making a plan for getting rid of her bodyguard in the next morning.

Surprisingly enough, the Princess managed to get some more sleep even after the happenings of that night. She got up a bit earlier than usual in the morning, but of course her bodyguard was there already, following her around like he always did. An annoyed groan leaving her lips, Risa turned to face him when she had finished eating her breakfast. “Leave me alone for today.”

“I apologize, Your Highness, but it is my duty to—”

“Do what I say,” Risa didn’t let him finish his sentence. “There’s something I need to take care of. _Alone._ ”

He seemed more than reluctant to obey, but he stopped resisting her, and Risa quickly left the dining room before he could change his mind and start following her again. She headed to the prison cells and told the guards positioned there to let her in. They, too, were reluctant to obey at first, but after a bit of convincing, they let Risa pass.

And then, the Princess stood in front of the cell they had locked the thief in.

The girl was leaning against the wall, resting her head back against it as well, and simply glanced up at Risa from below. “Hi. Can I help you somehow?”

Risa remained silent, leaning against the metal bars of the cell on the other side of the hallway.

The thief eventually moved a bit closer to her cell’s door, taking in Risa’s appearance. “What did I do to deserve a visit from the Princess herself?”

“You know who I am?”

The girl smirked a little. “So I’m right? Well, it’s not like I actually knew who you are. After all, there’s rumors in the village that you don’t exist because nobody’s ever seen you.”

A weak smile spread on Risa’s lips. “Well, I was never allowed to leave the castle after all. But I heard there’s rumors about you, too.”

“Nah, there aren’t any about my existence. But other rumors? There’s quite a few of those, I guess. Some people call me the Phantom Thief because they can never catch me. So, I guess it’s nice to meet you, Risa-hime. You can call me Mona.”

“Don’t call me ‘Risa-hime.’” After that sentence, Risa fell silent again, and for a while, she and the thief just stared at each other.

Then, Mona spoke up again. “Alright, if you’re not gonna tell me why you came here, I’ll try to guess.” There was a slightly triumphant grin on her lips as she continued. “You said you were never allowed to leave the castle, so I think you want me to tell you what life’s like in the village.”

Risa’s eyes widened slightly—she was a bit surprised because Mona had seen through her so quickly, but on the other hand, maybe her reason for coming here was just that obvious. “…you’re right.”

“I know. I’ll just go ahead and tell you then, if that’s alright.”

 “Eh, really?”

“Of course. I don’t have anything better to do, anyways,” Mona shrugged and gestured at the walls of the cell surrounding her. “And having company makes being here much more bearable, so I wouldn’t want to put you off.”

Risa was surprised to hear that; she definitely hadn’t expected the girl to agree that easily since, judging by her looks, she seemed like a somewhat rebellious person. But deep down, the princess was quite excited to hear what the other girl would have to say; she was just trying not to show that.

 Mona shifted into a more comfortable position, as far as that was possible on the hard ground, and started talking. “Basically, there’s all kinds of people out there. Rich people, poor people, the ones in between. I used to belong to the last category, but I guess that’s another story.” For a moment, her face took on a slightly nostalgic expression, but then she shook her head and continued. “Rich people have great lives… kinda like you do. Their houses aren’t as nice as the castle, but many of them have servants and don’t go to work. The poor people either have to work hard in proper jobs, or they’re like me.”

 “Like you?”

 “Thieves, burglars, criminals—some are rapists or murderers… that kind of thing.” Mona looked away absentmindedly, her hand stroking over her own arm for a moment. “You don’t even want to imagine it, believe me. In that way, it’s a good thing you’ve never left the castle.”

 For a moment, Risa remained quiet. She couldn’t imagine life being that horrible, but maybe that really was only because she had never seen anything like that. “So you think I wouldn’t like being out there?”

 The thief tilted her head to the side slightly, thinking about that. “I think you’d love it,” she then said. “But considering how curious you seem, you’d probably do a lot of stupid things just to figure out how life goes in the village.”

 “I’m a bit surprised to hear that from a burglar.”

 “Well, at least I know what I can do and what I can’t. I didn’t grow up all sheltered, thinking life was full of golden mirrors and soft beds.”

 “Breaking into the castle doesn’t exactly seem like you know what you’re capable of.”

 Mona lifted her head, giving the princess a sharp glance. “Out there, I’m way more at home than you are. If you ever leave the castle, nobody will know who you are. They’ll think you’re a rich little girl, they’ll take all your money and clothes, and maybe your body as well. _That’s_ what I’m talking about. I’m not gonna discuss with you whether breaking into the castle was a good idea or not.”

 Risa fell silent. The other girl was probably right; she’d been getting carried away with her hopes to see what a normal person’s life was like. She didn’t like admitting it, but Mona knew more about the village than she did, despite all the books Risa had read about it.

 For what felt like quite a while, the heavy silence hung above them. Then, Risa spoke up quietly. “…I’m sorry, I was probably going too far. Maybe I should leave now.”

 Mona’s posture didn’t change, but Risa thought she saw her eyes widen for a split second. Nevertheless, the thief didn’t protest; instead, she just shrugged and looked away. “Do whatever you want, you’re the Princess after all. Are you… going to come here again?”

 “…maybe.” Risa left the prison cells without looking back at Mona. What the other girl had said had given her something to think about, so she was quite lost in her thoughts until she bumped into someone. A surprised shriek left her lips, but to her relief, that person was just her bodyguard. And then, it occurred to her that maybe, she shouldn’t be happy about that.

 Indeed, her bodyguard gave her a strict glance. “Your Highness, your father is unhappy with how you tried to get rid of my presence. He was very angry with me for letting you walk around on your own.”

 Risa rolled her eyes; she wasn’t in the mood to deal with this. “Seriously, I’m fine. I’m eighteen years old, I can watch out for myself—”

 “Where did you go in the first place?”

 “That’s none of your business.”

 “I saw you head to the prison cells.” The man stepped towards Risa, and she instinctively took two steps back. “For your own wellbeing, I hope you didn’t try to interact with the new prisoner.”

 Risa’s eyes narrowed, and in her growing annoyance, she let out words that she shouldn’t have said. “And what if I did? Are you going to punish me? Father will kill you if you touch me or one of the flowers.”

 Her bodyguard reached out and grabbed her wrist, starting to lead her back to her room. “I will do nothing of that sort; it’s my job to protect you, after all. And maybe your father will agree with me if I suggest that it would be better to not let you leave your room for the time being—until the prisoner has been executed.”

 Risa turned pale, her thoughts racing. She knew that execution was usually the punishment that awaited anyone who tried to harm the Royal Family, but for some reason she had never thought it possible for that to happen to the girl who had tried, and failed, to break into the castle. Mona hadn’t hurt anyone, after all, and even if their parting hadn’t happened on great terms, Risa felt like she couldn’t let the girl get killed for nothing. “Let me go,” she ordered, her voice sharper than before. “This is an order. If you don’t, I’ll—”

 “Princess,” he cut in, not letting go of her wrist; although he did loosen his grip a little. “I’m sure you understand that this is for your own safety. Your father will understand that as well, so please come with me now.”

 But Risa didn’t want that. She had to do _something_ —Mona was her only connection to the ‘outside world,’ and besides, Risa was sure she didn’t deserve to die. She yanked her wrist free and ran—towards her own room. That was exactly where her bodyguard wanted her to go, she knew that, but she also knew that if she got there before him, she’d be able to lock the door from the inside instead of letting him to that from the outside.

 Heavy steps could be heard behind her as her bodyguard followed her. But Risa in her dress, although that wasn't the lightest dress either, was still faster and lighter on her feet than he was with his sword and the heavy leather and metal parts of his clothes, so she reached her destination just fast enough to slam the door shut right in front of her bodyguard's face. Quickly, she turned the key in the lock, and the _click_ she could hear twice told her that she had succeeded—she was in her room like her bodyguard had wanted, but at least she had the key as well.

 A heavy sigh of relief leaving her lips, Risa leaned her back against the door and then slid down until she sat on the floor, her knees pulled up to her chest and her fists clenched around the key. “I did it,” she muttered to herself, but she still didn't know what to do about Mona. “...I have to save her.” Maybe she just still felt intrigued with the idea of having someone show her around the village. But even without that thought, Mona wasn't supposed to die yet. So Risa closed her eyes and started making up a plan.


End file.
